Steel Panther has pointed out prior interviews the fact that Mötley Crüe has little patience for their gimmick. Sixx, in particular, does not see the band's '80 hair metal parody as flattery.

Zadinia noted in a 2018 interview with Music Life Magazine that when Steel Panther toured with Crüe and Def Leppard in 2011, Def Leppard was "fully supportive," while Crüe was the only band that ever made Steel Panther feel "unwelcome."

"Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx did not like it when we went on tour with them in 2011," Zadinia recalled. "...The thing with those guys is — I think they thought we were actually making fun of them directly. And I just gotta chalk that up to their egos being too big, because nothing that we do has anything to do with them directly."

Neil himself has not responded to the joke. But in a 2015 interview, Starr himself noted that Neil was the only member of Mötley Crüe who seemed to get Steel Panther's bit.

"You know, he told me, 'Hey, Michael, when we retire, you can have all our fans," Starr told The Daily Bulletin.

Zadinia and SP bassist Lexxi Foxx recently told Q104.3 New York's QN'A that they've never let circumstances change their ruthless commitment to irreverence. The pair recalled playing Japan for the first time and opening up with their song "Asian Hooker."

"When you're in Steel Panther and you have a song called 'Asian Hooker' and you don't open with it [in Tokyo], that's the day you stop being in Steel Panther," Zadinia said. "For real, we opened up with it and they loved it!"